Many types of input devices are presently available for performing operations in a computing system, such as buttons or keys, mice, trackballs, touch panels, joysticks, touch screens and the like. Touch screens, in particular, are becoming increasingly popular because of their ease and versatility of operation as well as their declining price. Touch screens can include a touch panel, which can be a clear panel with a touch-sensitive surface. The touch panel can be positioned in front of a display screen so that the touch-sensitive surface covers the viewable area of the display screen. Touch screens can allow a user to make selections and move a cursor by simply touching the display screen via a finger or stylus. In general, the touch screen can recognize the touch and position of the touch on the display screen, and the computing system can interpret the touch and thereafter perform an action based on the touch event.
Touch panels can include an array of touch sensors capable of detecting touch events (the touching of fingers or other objects upon a touch-sensitive surface). Future panels may be able to detect multiple touches (the touching of fingers or other objects upon a touch-sensitive surface at distinct locations at about the same time) and near touches (fingers or other objects within the near-field detection capabilities of their touch sensors), and identify and track their locations. Examples of multi-touch panels are described in Applicant's co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/842,862 entitled “Multipoint Touchscreen,” filed on May 6, 2004 and published as U.S. Published Application No. 2006/0097991 on May 11, 2006, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Capacitive touch sensor panels can be formed from rows and columns of traces on opposite sides of a dielectric. At the “intersections” of the traces, where the traces pass above and below each other (but do not make direct electrical contact with each other), the traces essentially form two electrodes. Conventional touch panels for use over display devices have typically utilized a top layer of glass upon which transparent column traces of indium tin oxide (ITO) or antimony tin oxide (ATO) have been etched, and a bottom layer of glass upon which row traces of ITO have been etched. However, the use of transparent traces is not required if the conductors are thin enough (on the order of 30 microns). In addition, if panel transparency is not required (e.g. the touch panel is not being used over a display device), the conductors can be made out of an opaque material such as copper. The top and bottom glass layers are separated by a clear polymer spacer that acts as a dielectric between the row and column traces. The traces on both the top and bottom glass layers can have a spacing of about 5 mm.
To scan a sensor panel, a stimulus can be applied to one row with all other rows held at DC voltage levels. When a row is stimulated, a modulated output signal can be capacitively coupled onto the columns of the sensor panel. The columns can be connected to analog channels (also referred to herein as event detection and demodulation circuits). For every row that is stimulated, each analog channel connected to a column generates an output value representative of an amount of change in the modulated output signal due to a touch or hover event occurring at the sensor located at the intersection of the stimulated row and the connected column. After analog channel output values are obtained for every column in the sensor panel, a new row is stimulated (with all other rows once again held at DC voltage levels), and additional analog channel output values are obtained. When all rows have been stimulated and analog channel output values have been obtained, the sensor panel is said to have been “scanned,” and a complete “image” of touch or hover can be obtained over the entire sensor panel. This image of touch or hover can include an analog channel output value for every pixel (row and column) in the panel, each output value representative of the amount of touch or hover that was detected at that particular location.
Because the rows must be either stimulated with an AC signal or held at a DC voltage level, and because the columns must be connected to analog channels so that modulated output signals can be detected, demodulated and converted to output values, electrical connections must be formed with the rows and columns on either side of the dielectric of the sensor panel. Because the rows and columns are perpendicular to each other, the most straightforward way to connect to these rows and columns is to bond a flex circuit at one edge of the sensor panel (e.g. the shorter side of a rectangular panel) to provide connections to the columns, and bond another flex circuit on an adjacent edge of the sensor panel (e.g. the longer side of a rectangular panel) to provide connections to the rows. However, because these flex circuit connections areas are not on the same edge of the sensor panel and are not on directly opposing sides of the dielectric, the sensor panel must be made larger to accommodate these two non-overlapping connection areas.
Because it is desirable to keep the overall size of the sensor panel as small as possible, it would be preferable to have two flex circuits connect to directly opposing sides of the sensor panel. By doing so, the extra attachment area that would be created by non-overlapping areas on either side of the sensor panel can be eliminated, and the area on the sensor panel reserved for the sensor array can be maximized.
However, bonding flex circuits on directly opposing sides of a dielectric is difficult to accomplish because of the heat and pressure applied by a bonding to bond flex circuits. The heat cures the epoxy, and the pressure causes the electrical connections to be formed. However, this heat and pressure can delaminate a previously bonded flex circuit on the other side of the dielectric. The pressure from bonding can also lead to conductive bonding material squeezing out onto exposed circuit traces on the flex circuits, causing shorts between circuit traces. In addition, due to the flexible nature of flex circuits, flex circuits have historically had problems with the cracking of traces within the flex circuits, causing open circuits.